On the first day of training camp for the Flyers, the fans descended on Skate Zone en masse.

They packed the bleachers. They crammed along the glass five-people deep -- and they did it on both rinks.

They all came to see the new-look team, a team that has a drastically different fingerprint than the team that was two wins away from a Stanley Cup championship 15 months ago. Heck, they're a lot different than the team that was swept from the playoffs in the second round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins last May.

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There's a new goalie. A new captain. New forwards, a new defenseman, new character, new attitudes and the hope that a new result come season's end.

"It surpassed my expectations," Simonds said about seeing a turn-away crowd at a practice. "I've heard about these fans and they're great. They're feisty and they like a hard-working team. In L.A. we had our diehards, but our practice arena was never packed like that. It was a nice sight to see."

The crowd was there to see Simmonds and Braden Schenn, the players acquired in exchange for captain Mike Richards.

They were there to see Voracek, the player acquired for Jeff Carter who is expected to replace Ville Leino.

They were there to see Talbot, who is the new Ian Laperriere, and Ilya Bryzgalov, who is experiment No. 374 in the Flyers' decades-long search for a championship-caliber goalie.

And they came to see Jaromir Jagr -- who they still can't believe is playing on their side now.

"When I was a kid I looked up to him because he was one of the best players who ever played," Claude Giroux said. "When you have a guy like that on your line it's pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to playing with him."

Jagr will be thrust into a primary role for the Flyers right away on that top line with Giroux and James van Riemsdyk, and will likely get a lot of power play time -- especially because the power play is coached by former teammate Joey Mullen.

"That's sad, isn't it?" Jagr quipped about playing with Mullen 20 years ago.

Another player who idolized Jagr as a kid is Voracek, who is from the same home town in what now is the Czech Republic.

"It's pretty impressive that he can still play like that at his age," Voracek said. "It's great for the NHL to have him back, too. He's going to be pretty uncomfortable with me saying this, but he was someone I looked up to growing up. He's 17 years older than me. I never thought I would have the chance to play with him."

And for Talbot, the addition of Jagr has made his transition from the dark side (Pittsburgh) to the Flyers all the more easy.

"I told him I was glad he signed here because he took a little more heat than I did," Talbot said. "He became public enemy No. 1 out there instead of me -- and that's a good thing."

While a lot of the players were light-hearted about the first day of camp, there are jobs to be won and lost.

Veterans like Michael Nylander and Adam Mair are in camp on a tryout contract.

Matt Walker and Andreas Lilja will be in the mix for the No. 6 defenseman spot. Schenn and first round pick Sean Couturier will both try to make the team at center.

Then there are open spots on special teams that need to be filled. This training camp is one of intrigue and uncertainty for the Flyers, still with an air of high expectations.

"There's a lot of new players," Giroux said. "And with Mike and Jeff gone there are a lot of spots open for ice time in all situations -- five-on-five, penalty kill, power play -- there are a lot of opportunities available."